April 21

He that received seed in the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundred-fold, some sixty, some thirty. - Matthew 13:23.

WE here see, that as natural influences operate according to the nature of the soil, so do the Spiritual. In the parable we observe there was the very same sower, the very same seed, and the very same season: the difference therefore in the result was not in these. It was in the nature of the ground. There were four kinds of soil. The way-worn and the stony place, the thorny place, and the good ground. Our Saviour says the good ground is the honest and good heart; not that any hearts are naturally so, or can be so, destitute of the grace of God. But some are prepared for the reception of the word. The parable takes the fact, and wisely accounts for the difference of the produce from the difference of the soil. “Do not,” says God, “my words do good to them that walk uprightly?” that is, to those who are sincerely desirous of knowing and following its designs. And our Saviour says: “He that doeth my will, shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.”

We are, therefore, likely to derive benefit from reading or hearing the word, when our hearts are delivered from the love of every sin, and when we can come to his dear feet and pray-“Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? “Lead me in the way and guide me, for “thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.” Agencies must evermore operate according to the nature of their subjects. Heat, the very same heat that melts wax, will harden clay. There may be two persons sitting in the same pew and hearing the truth; if one of them believe it, and believe not only the truth of it but the importance of it, and the other does not, it is not possible for them to feel alike the same doctrine. So says the Apostle to the Hebrews, “The word did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.” And to the Thessalonians he says, “Ye received our word, not as the word of man, but as it is in truth the word of God, which effectually worketh in them that believe.”

Therefore, says the Apostle James, “Lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive meekly the engrafted word, which is able to save our souls.”